


Rat Candy

by logoki



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Attempted Murder, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Character Death, Childhood Friends, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery, Overdose, Really I'm just borrowing the Voltron characters, Slow Burn, Stalking, There's some heavy stuff for you guys, heavy drug smuggling, it has nothing to do with the actual VLD plot, klance, lowkey shallura, so be prepared, this is vastly from my own design
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-22 14:15:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9611024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/logoki/pseuds/logoki
Summary: Isicc is a small town in the mountains that seems like it jumped out of the Hallmark channel. It's the kind of town where it seems like nothing could go wrong. The kind of town where kids like Lance and his friends feel trapped. And, if anything, this feeling only worsens when Keith moves to town.But all the fun rivalry and lamentations of the suffocating feel of the town are forgotten when the kids find the body of Janette Hanway, naked and badly bruised. And when the police do nothing to investigate further… things start to feel a bit odd. Little do they know that by digging deeper, they've opened the doorway for a force that they can't possibly control to enter their lives.





	1. Zotts

**Author's Note:**

> For the sake of this fic I have changed some things, such as names and ages. Here they are:
> 
> Hunk, Lance and Keith are all 15.  
> Allura is 16 and goes by the name Ali. Coran goes by Corey.  
> Matt and Shiro are 17. Pidge is 13.  
> Zarkon's name is Xaar Kahn (I think I'm clever).  
> Lotor is 17 and his name is Lloyd. 
> 
> Sorry if this upsets any of you, please don't be too angry with me.

Isicc was the kind of town you see in movies. The kind of town that seems like nothing evil or malicious could breech its comfortable cobblestone sidewalks; but sooner or later it always does. Keith had never even heard of the small mountain town until he was informed that a woman who lived there had adopted him. 

Reeba was a long time divorcee in her early sixties who taught biology at Isicc High and had more reptiles in her house than the town had people. And one day, the woman thought to herself, “I want a kid. But not a kid that needs its diaper changed, or needs to be watched at all hours of the day. A teenager would be nice.” And when Keith would ask her why she picked him, specifically, without even meeting him, she would always reply with a cryptic answer that provided more questions than answered, her favorite being, “Even though it said you were a delinquent, I saw something inspiring when I looked at your picture.” Keith thought it was nothing but hippy dippy bullshit, which it most likely was. 

After traveling over four hours in the car, arriving in Isicc had initially been a welcome feeling. But something always seemed odd about the small town, as if it was waiting for something, like the calm before the storm. 

The woman lived on Shaebur St, a culdesac, off of a woodsey road named after a type of ore, and accompanied by five other houses. The day he arrived, it had been sunny, and as the social worker’s car pulled into the small street, he saw several kids playing in one of the house’s yards. They looked young, and almost identical as they chased a big Masiff, with their sun-kissed skin and dark hair. A young boy and girl. 

Reeba’s house, which was soon to become Keith’s as well, was by far the oddest looking one of the bunch. It had disproportionate rooms, and a large glass observatory dome on top of one of them. The front door was painted to look like it had scales. Keith mentally groaned, expecting to start his life with a crazy woman. 

The strange door opened to reveal a lady who was much more lively than the boy had expected. Her silvery gray hair pulled back by a broad and colorful bandana, and her chartreuse cat eye glasses were pushed to the tip of her nose. She wore several bangled bracelets that matched her bulky earrings, and a vibrant, flowing skirt that reached her ankles. She reminded Keith of a person who bragged about their consumption of kale and practiced yoga like it was a religion. The woman also had a rather large burmese python draped over her shoulders like a boa. 

“Hello Keith!” she called, waving excitedly and prancing down the stone walkway. Keith got out of the car, blowing his bangs out of his face as he stared at the approaching woman. And snake. 

“It’s so good to see you!” she breathed, taking both of his hands in her own. The boy seized up, unaware of what to do under the light of all the sudden attention. “My name is Reeba Aruba, feel free to call me Reeba, everyone else around here does. And this!” she withdrew one hand from Keith’s to bring about the burmese’s head, “Is Charlie. Say ‘Hi’, Charlie!” The snake simply flicked out its tongue in response, causing Reeba to laugh airily. 

“He’s one of many of my other babies! Come inside, you can meet them all!” As Reeba started to pull Keith towards her front door, the social worker, Eric, cleared his throat. 

“Ahem. Ms. Aruba? Keith’s things are in the trunk. As he gets situated, I feel we need to have a talk.” 

Reeba’s smile fell and was replaced by a scrutinizing look, “Oh really? Well, if we must, we must,” she sighed, releasing Keith from her vice like grip, “You can go on in the house with your things, Keith. The animals won’t bite, but they might slither, crawl or writhe away. They’ll get used to you in time.” 

Keith just nodded and gathered his things from the trunk, which, granted, wasn’t much. A suitcase which held his clothes, toiletries, and dagger, and a backpack which held his binders and notebooks. 

It smelled like earth and lizards in Reeba’s house. But then again, that was to be expected. There was also a vague scent of musk incense, which Keith didn’t mind. It was better than a lot of the foster homes he’d been to. Posters, paintings and news clippings decorated the walls, and plants of all different kinds were hung from the doorways and ceilings. Plants were everywhere,from cacti and succulents, to ferns and lemon trees. There was also a huge salt water fish tank that made up the entire upper wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. Despite himself, the feel of this house made Keith feel comfortable. 

There were several softly glowing humidifies, one placed in every room it seemed, which created the climate of the house to be on par with that of a rain forest. Keith gingerly set his things down next to the sofa, and went to take a seat, only to hear a hiss coming from right where he was fixing to plop down. 

He jumped, his heart beating erratically. Whipping his head around, he saw that it was a huge, green iguana, that had itself splayed out over the sofa, nearly taking the whole thing over in the process. 

“My bad,” Keith grumbled, shuffling over to an empty (he checked twice this time) chair. He only had to wait several moments before Reeba came bursting through the door. 

“Good gravy that man was insufferable!” she called, her voice muffling out the sound of an engine driving angrily away, “I don’t see how you put up with him for a whole car ride, Keith. You must have tolerance skills worthy of a superhero. Oh! I see you’ve met Caesar! He’s one of my biggest boys, I’ll tell you what.” 

Keith could only smile and nod awkwardly, once again at a loss for words. The woman sighed as she lifted the reptile up and plopped down, resting the creature on her lap, where it practically purred with happiness. 

“So,” Reeba said, resting her chin lazily in her hand, “Keith. Tell me about yourself. I only know what the adoption agency wanted me to know.” 

Oh boy. Here it was. Keith hated talking about himself. “What’s there to tell?” He sighed, “I was orphaned at two, don’t get along well with others, and do well in school.” 

The older woman gave him a blank stare, “Ok, thank you Eric.” Keith felt the blood rush to his face. Yea, he really did sound like he was reading off of his own papers. 

Keith gave a resigned sigh, letting his head fall on the back of the chair, “You win, Reeba.” He heard her hum happily at those words, “I love space. It terrifies me, but its the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. And monsters, well, more like cryptids. They’re fantastic, and I believe in all of them. Except the jackalope, of course. That’s just ridiculous. Admittedly, I am a conspiracy theorist, but I don’t blindly believe everything. My favorite candy is Zotts, and I don’t like soft drinks. The only heirloom that I have from my family is a dagger, which I’ve never used on another living thing before.” 

Reeba looked at him with an expression that could only be described as fond, and suddenly Keith felt very claustrophobic in his own skin. It was usually weeks before someone could get him to talk like that, and even then he wouldn’t talk about his odd cryptid obsession. He needed to lie down. 

Supposedly sensing that the boy needed some space, Reeba rose, setting aside a grumpy Caesar in the process, “Well, Keith, you sound like a wonderful person, and I can’t wait to get to come to know you better,” she smiled at him, and he felt like he was suffocating, “But I suppose you’d like to get settled into your room now, yes?” He nodded. “Good. then get your things and follow me.” 

As the two wondered down the hall and up the stairs, Reeba pointed to doors, telling him which was what, and paintings, telling him how old each one was. “And here we are! Your room,” she opened the door to a well sized room that looked plain compared to the rest of the house. Bigger than any others he’d had at foster homes, though. “You can do anything you’d like to it, save for punching and/or kicking holes in the walls. And even that I can forgive. I have an observatory, as I’m sure you saw on the way in, that you’re welcome to any time you want. We get an excellent view of the stars all the way up here in Isicc.” Keith walked into his room, letting everything that was happening wash over him like a wave. “Pizza sound good for dinner? We could watch a sci-fi movie while we chow down if you want.” 

Keith looked back at Reeba, a small smile on his lips, “Yea,” he breathed, “That’d be great, Reeba. Thanks.” 

She bowed her head in response, and gently shut the door behind her as she left. Keith sighed, flinging himself onto the queen-sized bed. Wow. This was his life now. Permanently. She had already signed the adoption papers. If there was one thing Keith knew for certain about his new guardian, it was that she was a tad bit insane. But maybe that was a good thing. 

 

▲  
"Did you know that Reeba was gonna adopt some kid?" Pidge asked, her feet dangling from her perch in the treehouse. The apple she had taken all of three bites from lay forgotten behind her, and Lance tried not to wrinkle his nose in disgust at its already browning edges. 

"No," Hunk shrugged, picking mindlessly at his nails, "Mom doesn't usually talk about things like that unless she's with your mom, Lance." 

"I knew, Pidge. It's all my old lady's been able to talk about for the past few days now, you know." The skinny boy leaned against the less-than-sturdy railing of their slowly deteriorating three house. 

It had been an unusually sunny day for Isicc, so the trio seized the opportunity to return to the object of which their childhood's imagination revolved around. The three of them hadn't been there together in several months, now. Even if Shiro, Matt and Ali weren’t with them this time. Somehow that thought made Lance feel melancholy, which he hated. 

Desperate to chase away his mood-dampening thoughts, he stretched, groaning gracelessly,

"How much you wanna bet that this new kid's a babe? That she'll totally wanna get on up and ride this di-" Lance grinned as his friends’ groans cut him off.

Pidge was especially perturbed, "You know what? Just because you said that, I'm gonna bet that it's a dude, and that he's gonna beat you to a bloody fucking pulp, like Shiro or Ali should have done a looong time ago. Let's say… twenty bucks?" 

Lance grinned cockily, "Oh you are on, Pigeon." And as they firmly shook each other's hand, the wager was set. Hunk groaned. 

"Are you two ever going to stop doing shit like this? All it does is strip Lance of his allowance and his dignity." Pidge cackled as Lance openly gawked at his friend's words.

"How dare… How dare you, Hunk! I. Trusted. You!" The lanky boy threw his arms dramatically in the air, nearly smacking Pidge in the back of the head, "I thought this friendship meant more to you than just some cheap… joke!" 

"Oh come off it, you fucking queen," Pidge hissed, shoving harshly at his legs and almost sending him sprawling on his ass. 

"Uh uh, Pidgeotto, you've officially lost all leg touching privileges. You can touch these succulent calves no longer!" 

Pidge looked at him with an expression that showed not the slightest hint of care, "Oh dear. How ever will I sleep at night knowing that I can no longer touch Lance's abnormally long legs."

Lance snorted. “You’re just jealous because your legs down even come up to my knees.” 

“I WILL END YOU MCCLAIN.” Pidge lunged, and had it not been for Hunk keeping the two apart, Lance probably would have ended up turned inside out by gremlin claws. 

Just as Lance was going to retort with a snide comment, his phone vibrated. “Oh! That’s mom. I gotta go, guys. Smell ya later!” 

“God I hope you just said that ironically,” Hunk muttered, refusing to let the still struggling Pidge out of his grasp. Lance only provided a laugh for an answer as he began to climb the wooden planks down the tree. 

As soon as the boy walked into his house, he was greeted by the noise of his family and the smell of his mother’s cooking. Kira, their Mastiff, bounded up to him, slobber oozing from her jaws. She barked loudly at him as she jumped on the lean boy’s chest, nearly toppling him. 

“Ah! Kira! Get off!” Lance laughed, shoving the large hound off of him. At the sound of the commotion, his little siblings, Chrissy and Alex skidded into the foyer.  
“Lance! Look what I got today!” Alex said, puffing his chest out proudly as he showed his big brother a particularly shiny rock that he had procured from a ditch near the house earlier that day. 

“Alex stole that one from me, so I had to get a better one!” Chrissy puffed indignantly, shoving her twin brother lightly, “It’s in my room.”

“My room,” Alex retorted.

“No, MY room,” the small girl yelled back, giving way for the twins to start fighting rigorously. Not wanting to get caught up in a rumble between pre-pubescent kids about rocks, Lance simply sidestepped the seven year olds, whistling innocently as he made his way into the kitchen. 

“Hi mama,” Lance greeted, taking a deep breath in through the nose as he entered the open kitchen, where his mother was leaning against the counter reading People magazine as something cooked in a pot on the stove. “What’s for dinner?” 

“Your father’s sick, so we’re having chicken soup,” she said, her dark eyes taking in her son from just above the magazine. “How’re Hunk and Pidge?”

“Ah, they’re fine. Pidge is short and bitter as always. Hunk didn’t know that Reeba’s adopting a kid,” Lance slunk over to the pot of soup, slyly trying to sneak a taste. 

“Stop right there Lance McClain,” his mom said, rolling her magazine up threateningly, “You will eat when the rest of us do, and not a moment sooner.” Lance groaned, 

“But mamaaaa! I’m starving!!” The boy groaned, dramatically clenching his stomach with both hands. 

Juliana simply rolled her eyes at her son, “Obviously you are. And speaking of Reeba and her new child, we’re hosting a dinner for them tomorrow night, and I expect you to behave. Nina is coming over from Mamith, so this dinner is especially important. You wouldn’t want Keith to have a bad first impression of Isicc, now would you?”

“Wait,” Lance said, annoyance growing, “Did you just say Keith? A guy? Aaaaah shit, I owe Pidge twenty bucks now!” 

“Watch your mouth!” Lance’s abuelita shouted from the living room, “Any more words like that and you’re sleeping in the dog house that Kira never uses!!” 

Ignoring her mother, Juliana turned back to her son, some dark strands falling out of her loose bun, “Yes, Keith as in a guy. He’s around your age too, so play nice. I know how you can get with people some times, and that’s honestly the last thing that this poor kid needs.” 

Lance rolled his eyes, “Okay okaaay, mom. And hey, Nina’s coming!! She gonna be here tomorrow?”

“No. Later tonight, which is why I needed you home early, to help me clean all the shit up in this house.” 

“Juliana I will personally beat your nalgas if I hear any more profanity from you!!!!” Lance couldn’t help but cackle jubilantly as his mother’s face flushed red at his abuelita’s scolding. 

“I’m forty-five years old mama!”

“I could still teach you a lesson, and don’t you forget it!” the older woman huffed, her attention swiftly retuning to “The Bachelorette”. 

“That woman....” Juliana grumbled, clutching her magazine tightly. Lance chuckled, feeling comfortable amongst the boisterous mood of his home. He couldn’t imagine a life without it. 

 

▲  
Ali knit her eyebrows together in confusion as she tapped her pencil absentmindedly against her pursed lips. She hated poetry, and didn’t understand a bloody word of what Robert Frost was trying to say. Who has time for words that no one can understand? She had much more important things to do than sit there and try to decipher what some dead guy wrote over five decades ago. 

“Having trouble?” The kind, slightly teasing voice of Shiro brought her out of her agitated thoughts. She grunted. 

“The third stanza is utter gibberish,” she hissed, despising the dead poet with each passing breath. 

Shiro laughed, bringing his coffee up to his mouth. Matt just shook his head,  
“Look, Ali, it’s not that difficult if you just figure out the formula for the words, then converge them into a sentence and -”

“Matt, I’m gonna have to stop you right there, buddy. Poems aren’t math problems. Words and numbers are two totally different languages. Ali, these things are mainly about symbolism and interpretation. It’s really up to you what Frost means when he says things like, ‘And both that morning equally lay... In leaves no step had trodden black.’ The thing about poems and words is that there is no black or white. It’s all colors.” 

The dark haired girl snorted and sank further into the suede couch (one of the many helter skelter furniture items splayed randomly about the small coffee shop), thoroughly despising Shiro’s love of words. 

“Well I think that’s ridiculous,” the girl huffed, blowing a pale strand of silvery-purple hair out of her face where it had fallen, “I propose we build a time machine and go back in time to stop Robert Frost’s parents from the fornication that led to his birth.”

“Here here!” Matt cheered, lifting his double shot of espresso and tossing his head back, as if taking a shot. Shiro simply sighed, defeated. 

“Well if we’re not going to study,” the older boy cut eyes at both of his friends, “Then we might as well just go home.” Both of them groaned at his words.

“But it’s so boring back on Shaebur St!!” Matt complained, draping himself grumpily across the table, effectively blocking Shiro from his coffee. 

Ali agreed, “There’s absolutely nothing to do, aside from being pulled into whatever Lance, Pidge and Hunk are up to. And that almost always ends with someone’s hair being burned off, or being seriously disfigured. Need I remind you what happened when they tried to make a homemade rocket, Shiro?” She raised an eyebrow at him as he flinched slightly, his had automatically going up to rub at the broad scar that breached across his nose. 

“No, I don’t need reminding. I can remember it quite well,” the muscular boy shuddered at the memory, immediately picking up his coffee and taking several long, loud gulps. Ali chuckled. 

“Oh!” Matt said loudly, suddenly, sitting up immediately and almost spilling Ali’s chai latte all over her. She scowled at him as he continued, “Reeba’s supposedly adopting a kid today! That’s new and exciting!”

Ali raised both eyebrows. Reeba was adopting someone? She had never really seemed the motherly type. 

“You’re serious?” Shiro asked, his visage skeptical. 

“Would I ever lie to you guys?” Matt asked, his glasses askew on his face as he smirked at them. Ali and Shiro looked at each other cooly, their gazes telling everything. 

“Yes.” they said a the same time, turning back to Matt as he groaned and shook his head. 

“The geniuses are always the ones isolated,” he grumbled, organizing himself once again, “Anyway, it’s 100% true, mom and dad were talking about it with Pidge and me. Evidently Reeba’s been going on about it for several weeks now.” 

“Huh. I wonder what possessed her to do that?” Shiro asked to no one in particular just as his phone started vibrating. “Oh, its Iris. Hang on guys, I kinda have to get this.” Ali and Matt patiently watched their friend as he greeted his younger cousin over the phone. 

“‘Sup Iris?”

“Shiro, where are you?? Come home right now, there’s a crazy guy who won’t leave mom alone!!” Iris yelled over the phone, so loudly that both Matt and Ali could hear every word. 

“What? Ok, calm down. I’m on my way. Try to talk him down, ok?” And with that, he hung up. “Sorry guys,” he grumbled, “Looks like we’re gonna have to cut this study session short.”

“It’s alright, Shiro. Not like we were getting much studying done anyway,” Matt sighed, gathering his things along with Ali. 

The dark skinned girl pursed her lips, humming as she followed her friends out of the coffee shop. Iris was Shiro’s 13 year old cousin. She never really talked to the other kids on the street, and always acted like she held herself in a very high regard. It was something that pissed Ali off, especially since the younger girl often took advantage of Ali’s closest friend. Shiro was always too nice. Shiro lived with his father, Naoko, Aunt Yuna, and her daughter, Iris. Yuna had moved in with Shiro and his dad around seven years ago, when Yuna’s husband divorced her and left her with nothing but their child. Now the woman worked as the high school’s night janitor, and a fortune teller during the day. 

Ali couldn’t help but resent Yuna and her daughter slightly. From the way she saw it, they were taking care of the Shirogane’s kindness, and had been ever since they moved in. But then again, her father always taught her to give people the benefit of the doubt, and trust in one another. She had called bullshit when he lectured her on the subject, snorting at her father’s natural kindness. But ever since his death, she’d taken his wisdom more seriously. 

The tall trees of the mountain forest surrounding Isicc passed in a blur as the girl stared out of the passenger window of Shiro’s car. The song “Hey Brother” by Avicii playing gently from the car’s speakers as Shiro pressed the boundaries of the speed limit. And time seemed to stand still, as it often did in this town. This town. Isicc. Ali thought the name bitterly, her upper lip curling. She hated this town. It was small, suffocating, and trapped you inside of it. Almost nothing exciting ever happened, and it only brought her bittersweet memories of when her father was still alive. This town was like poetry. And Ali Altas hated poetry.


	2. Milk Duds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More exposition!!! hoo-fucking-ray.
> 
> Lance's sister is so much stronger than him; Pidge, Hunk and Ali smoke in the dark of another club house; and Keith is forced to socialize with the neighbors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the last chapter I was able to catch an error after I had already published it. And since I don't wanna go back and change it: I said Ali had dark hair, when I meant to say dark skin. "The dark skinned girl" instead of "dark haired girl". My bad. 
> 
> Also! Regarding character piercings:  
> Ali has a stud right under her bottom lip, several ear piercings, and a bellybutton ring.  
> Keith has a stud on his nose and his cartilage pierced.   
> Pidge has a septum piercing and two ear lobe piercings.   
> Matt only has one small cartilage ring on his right ear. 
> 
> BTW! Sorry about any grammatical errors, please don't point them out. I know they're there. I'm too lazy to properly edit this. please just humor me.

It had been several months since Lance had seen his older sister. Nina and he had always been close, so it had taken some adjustment when she left for Arden Union, the community college of Mamith. Naturally, when Lance woke up the next morning and saw that his older sister was there, he was elated. 

“Nina!!” Lance yelled, flinging himself at the woman with vigor. She caught him, like she always did, with her borderline scary strength, and spun him around with easy. 

“What’s up, Cobra Boy??” Nina laughed, her short, wavy hair curling around her rosy cheeks. Lance groaned at the lame nickname. He had earned that when he was nine, and he had been playing superhero with her. He had decided he would be named Cobra Boy, after one of the artists that Nina always seemed to be playing. Cobra Starship. Nina had gotten into so much trouble for introducing him to that kind of music so young. The memory of abuelita reprimanding the older girl made Lance hug her tighter, realizing just how much he missed her. 

“I missed you,” he sighed, glad that the girl was just as tall as him. She laughed, pulling him apart from her as her green eyes glinted. 

“I missed you too, Lance,” she smiled, kissing his forehead. Lance hissed,   
“Noooo, GROSS,” he made a disgusted face, shoving away from her and fleeing, to which the girl laughed loudly, accepting the thrill of the chase. The siblings dashed around the house, dumping into things and people. At one point, Lance ran against Alex, sending the small boy sprawling to the couch. But when Nina knocked over a stool as they ran into the kitchen, Juliana was sick of it. 

“Enough!” the older woman shouted just as Nina had put Lance into a headlock. Ricky Martin was playing loudly on the radio. “It’s like you never left, Nina! Why don’t you and Lance go outside and take a walk? It’d help to get rid of some of that energy, God knows we need it gone.” 

Nina laughed, “Ok, mama. C’mon Cobra Boy.” The older girl led the way, her arm hooked with Lance’s. It was another day where the sun was fighting the clouds, a rarity in this county. In this town. 

“I think you’ve gotten stronger,” Lance groaned, rolling his neck dramatically. His older sister just laughed. 

“I wouldn’t doubt it, with all the time I spend at the gym,” she mused, enjoying the feel of the sun on the exposed parts of her skin. She was wearing a primrose tank top and long, dark gray cargo pants tucked into combat boots. The girl was part of the ROTC program, desiring to go into the military after college, and, sadly, had almost no sense of style. Lance still loved her, though. But the outfit (the tank top especially) was a bit odd for the end of september. Then again, Nina had never really been affected by the cold much.

When they passed Reeba’s house, Lance couldn’t help but stare, wondering what kind of person Keith was. He looked back to his sister only to see her smirking at him with a knowing glint in her eyes. 

“What?!” he asked, tensing up. 

Nina hummed, “I’m just wondering what kind of kid Reeba would have adopted is all,” she said with a voice that implied that it was not, in fact, all there was behind her words. “And if he could possibly be the one to relieve you of your virginity.” 

“Nina!!” Lance yelled, smacking her hard in the arm. She just laughed, as if she didn’t feel the slap at all. “No!!! I highly doubt some crusty kid that lives in Reeba’s rainforest is worthy of my sweet bod. Besides, I lost my v-card a looong time ago.” 

The woman looked at him incredulously, not at all impressed. “Cobra Boy, if you had already gotten in the sack with someone, I would be one of the first people you’d inform, and you know it.” Lance groaned, unwilling to argue the mute point further. She was right, as usual. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t done other things. Sodomy, although he had never actually had sex. 

Nina, on the other hand, had had a promiscuous life in high school. She actually lost her virginity at 16 to the student intern for her pre-cal class. No one found out if she didn’t want them to, and from then on she had almost the entire male population of the high school twisted around her finger. Even then she was tall and muscled, but she could put the other, skinny girls to shame, and she knew how to. She also knew how to laugh, and was kind to everyone who was nice to her. She hadn’t changed much at all, Lance realized, except now she didn’t sleep around nearly at all. 

“Hey, Lance,” she said as they started walking in the woods, towards the tree house, “Can I tell you something?” She asked. 

“Anything,” Lance smiled lazily, turning to see his sister’s borderline nervous expression. “You know me, Nina.”

She seemed to relax at his words. “Good.” A pause in which the only sound was the sound of leaves and twigs crunching beneath as they carried on. “I met someone,” she sighed finally, letting her arms swing freely beside her, “His name’s Ty, and I met him at Hastings one night when I was out late renting a last minuet movie for movie night, plus some Milk Duds, when he ran into me.” 

The young woman had a wistful look on her face as she remembered. “It scattered all the things he was carrying, granted that was only a couple of books and a record. At first I was mad, but the face he made was so pitiful, he looked like a constipated old man, that I started laughing, and I wasn’t able to stop. So then he started laughing too, and I invited him to movie night. That was several months ago. Lance, I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I’m in love with him.”

Lance felt a booming feeling of warmth blooming in his chest, he could barely contain his smile. He flung himself at his sister, squeezing tightly. “Nina’s in loooove!!!! My big sister’s in LOVE!!!!” 

They laughed together as they climbed up the tree to the club house, where they sat cross legged, each one humming with excitement. 

“So what does this Ty guy look like???” Lance said, practically bouncing, “I wanna know everything!! Is he hung or what?” 

“Lance!” Nina laughed, throwing her head back as the joyous sound rumbled out of her. When she was able to calm down, she looked back at her brother and sighed. “He’s beautiful. He has dark freckles and even darker skin, and warm brown eyes that catch you and hold you until you feel safe. His hands are so gentle, Lance. And the way he looks at me just makes me feel like I’ve finally found something I didn’t know I needed so desperately. His hair is wild and frizzy, and he lets me play with it while we’re reading or watching a movie. His voice is low and smooth, like the water of a quarry, and when he laughs I feel like I’m the richest person in the world. He makes me feel new. Special. Priceless, and I’m so in love with him it’s not even fair. And, if you must know, oh baby brother of mine, yes. He most definitely is hung. Like a horse.” 

Lance grinned from ear to ear, imagining the man that had managed to capture his sister’s heart. “He sounds like a total dreamboat,” Lance chuckled, leaning his head on his hands. 

“He is, Cobra Boy. He is.” And, for the first time in years, Lance felt jealous of his sister. He knew it was irrational, that she was older and was bound to find someone before he did, but it didn’t stop the self-destructive thoughts from coming. He just wished someone cared for him like his sister cared for Ty. Oh well. 

 

▲  
Honestly, Pidge was not a huge fan of the outdoors. Bug bites hurt and when you breathed in pollen, you were essentially inhaling plant sex. It’s gross. Nature is gross. 

She thought about how much she despised nature as she let out a big, loud sneeze, causing Hunk to jump nearly five feet in the air. 

“JESUS!!” the large boy shouted, nearly dropping the cigarette he was holding. 

“I’m not gonna apologize,” the bitter girl sniffed, returning her attention to her computer screen which glowed eerily in the dim light of their workshop. It used to be an old shed behind Hunk’s house, but because it wasn’t being used for anything, the Pidge, Lance and Hunk had gotten permission to turn it into another club house. But Lance didn’t really like to come in here, since this was where Pidge and Hunk would smoke a lot while they worked on encryption and coding, so he often didn’t bother going with them when they left for the workshop. 

When they first got a hold of the workshop, they painted the walls and ceiling with black chalkboard paint, and put dark green tarps against the windows, so sunlight wouldn’t intrude (on the rare occasion sunlight actually made an appearance). This was where they went if they needed to catch up on sleep away from their families. The floor was littered with pillows, throws, soft rugs, and bean bags. There was a work table, and several old chest of drawers where they kept all of their necessary equipment. The walls were full of glow in the dark equations that neither Hunk nor Pidge had bothered to erase, and an occasional floral design from whenever Ali had ventured in here with them. 

“Hey, are you going over to Lance’s house for dinner tonight? To meet the new kid?” Hunk asked, fiddling with some kind of contraption as Skrillex played softly on the small bluetooth speaker. Pidge’s music. She hummed, signaling a yes. 

“Good!” Hunk smiled, the magnifying glasses he used when working, making his eyes look ridiculously huge, “My family’s going too. Mom’s actually going over early to help Mrs. Juliana make dinner. They’re gonna make authentic Valencian Paella. I tried to get my mom to let me go help too, but she was all, ‘The kitchen would just be crowded with you there, let me and Juliana have girl time!’ and so I got shot down real quick.” The big guy sighed forlornly, taking a long drag of his cigarette. 

Pidge looked cooly over to her friend, tugging absentmindedly at her septum piercing, a bad habit she had picked up shortly after acquiring the decoration. “I seriously think your mom’s in love with Juliana.” 

The dark skinned boy shrugged his large shoulders, laying down on the nearest beanbag, “Most likely when they were kids. But then they moved off to college and mom met mom no.2, and they got married. But they don’t even live together anymore! Ever since other mom got that marine biologist job in San Fran. I mean, we all still have family Skypes every other night, but it just doesn’t feel the same. I miss her.”

The small girl smirked as she typed fervently on her keyboard. “Good thing Juliana’s straight as a log, otherwise Lola probably never would have married Jazmine, and Jazmine and Juliana would’ve ditched this town. But nooo, Julie had to go and get married and have kids like Lance. A tragic hetero circumstance.” 

“You’re so salty, did you know that?”

“And don’t you forget it!” She chuckled as someone knocked on the door. Hunk froze, terrified of being caught smoking, but relaxed when Ali called out. 

“Pidge! Hunk! Are you in there? It’s me, Ali.” Hunk got up and unlocked the door for the girl, who swept inside, bringing the scent of lilacs and brisk September air with her. Her hair was split into two identical braids, resting over her shoulders, that trailed all the way down to her hips and tied with black ribbons. She wore a black leather jacket that was long and drifted down to her achilles’ heel, like something off of Blade 2. Her top was just a pretty floral wrap that covered only her breasts, with black leather leggings that came up to her waist, with pastel pink, closed toed high heels. She was also wearing an elaborate diamond necklace with earrings to match. 

Why did she always have to look perfect? Even when she was wearing a fucking Blade 2 coat, she managed to look like a princess. 

“What’s up, ‘Princess’?” Pidge asked, eyes not straying from her computer screen. Ali chuckled at the nickname, having grown used to it after all the years knowing these kids. 

“I just wanted to come and have a smoke. Yesterday evening was really stressful for me. Shiro too. I tried to get him to come, but he’s so frugal with illegal things. I suppose that’s what happens when your dad’s a police officer. Where’s the Bacardi?” Ali glided over to one of the chest of drawers, the one that had all the booze, and procured a giant bottle of straight Bacardi from the top drawer. “Bingo.” she hummed, taking a giant swig. “Fuck me up, mr. alcohol.”

“And YOU!” she pointed dramatically to Hunk, who already had a cigarette out for her. “Ah!! You’re the sweetest person, Hunky. No wonder Shay’s head over heels in love with you. Now light it up, big guy!”

Blushing at the comment about his school crush, Hunk obliged, lighting the girl’s Marlboro as it rested in between her gloss-coated lips. She took a deep drag and let out a long cloud of smoke. The smoke as well as the girl’s silvery hair caught the light of Pidge’s laptop as well a small LED lamp that Hunk kept by his workplace, making her seem ethereal, elven almost. 

“So what happened yesterday that’s got you all worked up, ‘Princess’?” Pidge asked, lowering the screen of the macbook and setting aside to make room for the older girl to sit next to her. Which she did, after taking off her Blood 2 leather coat and tossing it casually into the darkness of the room. 

“Yuna had a customer barge into Shiro’s house and nearly kill her. He was obviously on something. Some bath-salt level shit, I’ll tell you what. Shiro called his dad and Naoko arrested him. Shiro had to knock the bloody fucker out first though. It was an ugly fight, the man fought like he didn’t know fear or pain. Almost killed Iris, not that I would’ve minded that, thought.” Ali collapsed all the way onto a satin pillow, taking another long drag. The cigarette glowed orange in the dark of the workshop, only for a moment. 

“You sure do hate her, don’t you?” Hunk sighed, unable to hate anyone unless given a blatant reason. 

“She’s a bitch!” Ali whined, putting out her cigarette against the bottom of her heel, “And she takes advantage of Shiro’s kindness.” Hunk and Pidge shared a look while the elegant girl made herself comfortable, sinking further into the pillows and throws. 

The three of them continued to chatter mindlessly to the sound of dubstep and the smell of nicotine, letting the time pass away from them as they enjoyed each other’s company. The comfortable sounds of the kids were interrupted by a vibration coming from Pidge’s phone. 

A text. “Ah shit. Ok guys, the ‘rents are summoning me. Looks like I gotta blast,” she said, standing up and popping her back. “Gimme the perfume, Hunk, I reek of smoke.” Hunk tossed her a bottle of ‘Fresh Linen’ perfume. Pidge made a face at the smell. “Gross.”

“K guys, see you later,” the small girl called as she walked out the door, to which Hunk responded in kind, while Ali simply snored. Loudly, causing Pidge to snigger as she shut the door behind her. 

 

▲  
A gecko named Pippa had taken a liking to Keith. He had awoken to the creature making a nest out of his tangled hair, and he panicked. As he screamed, Reeba had barged in, looking very menacing despite wielding only a broom and wearing a Kermit the frog silk bathrobe over her pajamas. 

Once they discovered the source of Keith’s dismay, Reeba had doubled over in laughter as Pippa made herself at home on Keith’s shoulder. 

The boy had spent the rest of the day helping Reeba around the house. She had told him that her neighbors were throwing him a welcome dinner, to which he mentally panicked. As he did things like water plants and sweep (more than once shrieking at seeing a snake or iguana slithering out of his way) he tried to calm himself down. 

He had met several other of Reeba’s “children”, as well. There was Jasper, the bearded dragon, Slime Boy, a salamander, Shia the chameleon, Blithe, the ball python, and a frilled lizard named Ares. There was also another iguana named Beret, who was smaller and not as mean as Caesar, but much quicker, and more shy than any of the other reptiles. Keith liked Ares and Pippa the most, even thought he latter was creepy as hell. There was also a tortoise named, get this... Shelly. Keith sighed long and ruefully when Reeba had disclosed to him the unfortunate name of the animal. Evidently the poor creature had been named by her godson, Jason, who lived over 14 hours away by car. There were lots of others, but these were the only ones Keith could stand to remember. 

Throughout the day, he was able to calm himself down and forget about what was to transpire at dinner. But now, he sat on the couch, nervously bouncing his knee while waiting for Reeba to get dressed for the party. It was a Sunday, so Reeba didn’t have work, and she only went to church on Easter and Christmas, so they had a stay at home kind of day. 

Caesar was asleep next to Keith, his tail resting in the boy’s lap, Pippa sitting calmly on one of the boy’s thighs. Then, Reeba entered the room with a strong smell of ginger and honey. Go figure. 

“Oh good! You’re ready! Juliana just texted me that they’re ready whenever we are, so we can go ahead,” she swept up Caesar, holding him like he was a cat. He simply closed his eyes and enjoying the warmth radiating from the woman. Meanwhile, Keith could barely stop his mind from going 90 miles a minuet. What were these people like? Were they going to accept him? Was he safe here? The boy absentmindedly fiddled with the hem of his old Metallica shirt, wishing he was in bed and listening to his music as the world faded away. 

Keith simply nodded, not meeting the older woman’s eyes. “Hey, Keith,” she said, to which he reluctantly looked at her. “I know that this is stressful for you, but you don’t have to worry. You really don’t. These people are some of the kindest you’ll ever meet, even if they seem a bit much at times. And I’ll be right there, if you ever feel like you absolutely have to leave, come find me and we will. No worries.” 

The boy gave her a half-hearted smile, knowing that no matter how uncomfortable he was, he wouldn’t interrupt a dinner where Reeba was having fun with her friends. 

“I guess we’d better get going then, huh?” Keith said, gently setting Pippa on the arm of the couch and standing up. Reeba simply hummed in response, watching him with a gentle eye. “What?” He asked, no malice lacing his voice. 

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just happy I guess,” she sighed, setting the lizard down as the big baby groaned in a way that only an iguana could. Keith didn’t really know what she meant by that, so he didn’t say anything in response, simply following her out the front door and up the street. 

The McClain’s had a large house. It was nice, but looked like it had taken years upon years of children wearing away at its resolve. Side walk chalk decorated the driveway, depictions of yellow suns sporting sunglasses, rainbows, clovers, flowers, and stick people. These were obviously done by small kids. Then there was a beautiful, intricate floral design drawn in white chalk, that was most defiantly not done by the hands of a young child. 

Reeba had informed Keith that Abe McClain was a veterinarian (which came in handy multiple times for the biology teacher, considering she had so many goddamn reptiles), and that his wife, Juliana, was the manager of the town’s only mexican restaurant, La Mesa. They made good money, and were able to afford a large house to create a comfortable lifestyle for their kids. 

As Keith’s new adopted mom knocked on the door, the boy felt himself grow rigid with nerves. And then the door opened, to reveal a woman of around 5ft 6”, with mocha skin and dark brown hair cascading down her back and shoulders in lazy ringlets. She wore pale lipstick, and a smile that was genuine and bright. 

“Reeba!” she exclaimed, immediately pulling the other woman into a tight hug, “It’s so good to have you over for dinner again!! I’m so happy for you!” As the two women fell into a fast, comfortable chatter, Keith found himself examining this woman who he assumed was Juliana. Her eyes were so dark they looked black, but glittered warmly with the light of the setting sun. Her eyes were feathered over elegantly with makeup, managing to make them look huge, and she had a dimple on both cheeks that appeared when she smiled. A beautiful woman, whom age had touched only by delicate crows feet and gentle lines on her forehead. 

“And you must be Keith!” Keith was yanked out of his thoughts by Juliana’s harmonic voice, only to see the woman staring kindly at him. He immediately felt a cold sweat begin to form on the back of his neck. 

“Yes ma’me. Nice to meet you,” he stuck out his hand, which she shook firmly, chuckling. 

“Oh please. You don’t have to call me ‘ma’me’. Juliana will do just fine. Well, come in, come in! everyone is waiting for you!” And thus, Keith was pulled forcefully by the two women into the warmly lit house, where a thick bustle of voices awaited him. There was also music playing in the background, although the dark haired boy couldn’t for the life of him discover where it was coming from. 

The trio turned the corner, and Keith almost spun around on his heels and bolted right then and there. There were so many people. And they were all so, vastly different, it was almost unbelievable. 

Everyone’s attention turned towards the boy who had just entered the room, their voices going quite, before erupting into excited greeting, several people shoving to meet him first. 

Lance hadn’t been this pumped since the last homecoming, where he may or may not have thrown his shirt all the way across the gym to “Crank That” by Soulja Boy. But that was last year. All in the past. And the thing about now was, he didn’t even know why he was so excited. Then he saw Keith. 

His first thought was, “Wow, I’ve never seen a real life emo this close before,” then, “Goddamn he’s one fine emo thought.” There were too many people crowding him then, so the Lance hung towards the back of the small mob, falling in beside Hunk, Matt, Pidge and Ali. 

“You guys aren’t going to scramble for a taste of the new kid like the adults?” Lance asked sarcastically, raising his eyebrows in mock surprise. 

Pidge snorted, “Naw, that poor kids’s getting smothered half to death under the stench of mom perfume atm. We’ll strike when he’s alone.” Ah. Leave it to Pidge to make a casual introduction sound like a predatory promise. 

Shiro, however, was able to politely maneuver his way through the crowd to reach Keith, determined to make the younger boy feel welcome. 

“Hi,” he beamed down at the kid, sticking out his right hand, “I’m Takashi Shirogane, but everyone just calls me Shiro.” Keith slowly took his hand, shaking it firmly, as if trying to prove something. 

“Keith,” the darkly dressed boy mumbled, eyes staring past Shiro at nothing in particular. 

“Well Nice to meet you Keith,” Shiro grinned, presenting his most charming smile that had won the hearts of many a girl at the high school. Keith didn’t look. 

“Ok Shiro! You’ve had your turn, step aside if you may,” A smooth, commanding voice with a british accent cut through the air, causing Keith to whip his head up, bangs falling in his face. Oh shit. The girl that stood before him didn’t even look real. She looked like she belonged on a different, more perfect plane of existence. Well, Shiro did as well, but he just wasn’t as regal and refined as this lady. She had dark skin, and long, pale, silvery hair that was pulled elegantly into two identical braids that reached all the way to her hip bones. 

She seemed to know what he was thinking, for she smirked as she said, “My name is Allura Airiah Altas. But I prefer to go by the name Ali, so please address me as such.”

“Or Princess,” piped up a knowing voice that belonged to a mousy-haired girl with huge, round glasses and a septum piercing. 

“Or that,” Ali dipped her head in agreement as a small smile graced her features. 

“Hi,” the short girl said, sticking out her small fist to Keith, “I’m Pidge. You’re Keith. Pound it.” And he did, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion as he bumped his fist against hers. 

“I’m her brother, Matt. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” what looked like a taller, bulkier, but otherwise identical copy of Pidge standing next to Shiro. 

Now, it was a large, darkly tanned boy’s turn to talk, he looked as nervous as Keith felt, “Hi. I’m Hunk. Garrett. Hunk Garrett. It’s really nice to meet you, Keith. Dude. Buddy.” Keith shook the boy’s hand, noticing that it was clammy. 

“Ohhh Lance. Oh boy. I think that leftover lo mein I had earlier today was expired. I am feeling SICK.” Keith could only stare as Hunk stumbled away draped himself onto the shoulder of a tall, thinner boy, of which the only thing Keith could see was the back of his head. 

“Haha, c’mon, buddy, I’ll get you to a bathroom,” Lance chuckled affectionately as he led his best friend down the hall, only slightly bummed that he didn’t get to introduce himself to the famous Keith. As soon as he was deposited by the toilet, Hunk puked. “Gross, dude,” Lance laughed loudly at his friend’s misery. 

Time seemed to quicken after that, something always coming up before Lance could introduce himself to Keith. It got to the point, that Lance was convinced that the boy was ignoring him. 

“The fuck’s his problem?!” Lance grumbled, arms crossed as he sunk sourly into the couch, a plate of untouched paella on his lap. 

“The fuck’s whose problem?” Hunk asked, his mouth full of shrimp and rice. 

“That emo fucker Keith,” Lance hissed, glaring at the floor, “He’s talked to everyone at this damn party except me.” 

Hunk swallowed, then boomed with laughter, making his friend jump, “Lance, buddy. Seriously?? Just go up to him and introduce yourself. Don’t make this out to be something it isn’t, dude. He’s just unfamiliar with, well, everything here.” 

“Yea, sure, whatever,” Lance grumbled, which Hunk ignored. 

Shortly after dinner was done, the Garrets and Shiro’s family bid their farewells, leaving the house not much quieter. Lance was walking to the bathroom when he spied a familiar mullet sitting on the swing out on the back screened-in porch. He was alone. Perfect!

The tall boy briskly walked out of the door that opened to the porch, Keith’s head whipping around at the sound. 

“Ok, Mullet,” Lance said, stretching his arms up over his head, “I’ve finally gotten a chance to introduce myself. I’m Lance, the one and only, the handsome, the magnificent.” 

Keith’s eyes roamed up and down the boy’s appearance. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he moaned, hitting his head against the back of the wooden swing. 

Lance bristled, “What’s that supposed to mean?!” No way in hell was Keith going to admit to the cocky boy that he thought he was unnecessarily attractive. 

“It’s not a mullet, asshole,” Keith sighed instead, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. 

“Oh, it is SO a mullet,” Lance boomed loudly, puffing out his chest proudly, which in turn simply made Keith even more frustrated. They continued on with their pointless bickering, until Reeba texted Keith and told him that she was ready to go. So, without a word of farewell, Keith arose from his perch, and breezed past the taller boy, purposefully ramming Lance with his shoulder. Lance turned to bitch at the boy, but he was already gone. 

Instead, he rubbed the back of his neck guiltily, letting the self-pity start to eat away at his mind. “Fuck,” he mumbled quietly. But there was no one around to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for sticking with it through yet another chapter of exposition and character introduction. I know you guys must be sick of it, because I am, and I'm the mother-loving author. So sorry about that. Next chapter is when things will start to pick up, fret not.


	3. Skittles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janette Hanway is reported missing; Keith gets his school schedule; Pidge can be really mean; Keith is really gay and Lance is honestly no better; Shiro receives a warning from his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfor's name in this is Allen.
> 
> Once again, I did not edit this, so please just bare with me.

The next morning, a Monday, Pidge awoke to the sound of gentle rain hitting her bedroom window. Her large room was flooded with pale morning light as she begrudgingly put on her glasses and checked her phone for the time. 7:15. School started at eight. Usually Shiro drove Ali, Matt and her to school in his car, even though that was technically illegal, and he usually left around 7:45. Lance and Hunk almost always rode their bikes, refusing to succumb to the melancholy weather. Or so they claimed. 

Yawning, the short girl arose from her “Marvin the Martian” bedsheets (and comforter. and pillows. but that’s not important), and slid on her green, fuzzy slippers, trudging out of her closet and to the bathroom. The shower curtain was just a giant visual of Dory, Nemo, and Marlin staring out at her as she opened the door. It used to scare her every morning, but she had long since gotten used to it. 

Her outfit that day, she had decided, was a Xenomorph t-shirt tucked into high-waisted blue jean capris, with light green knee socks underneath. With her signature green hightop converses. And to top it all off, a swamp green, hooded windbreaker jacket, with a large Gremlin badge ironed onto the back. It was one of her better creations. One that didn’t blow up and give people scars. 

The girl sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror, running a hand through her crudely cut, mousy hair. She thought she looked fine. Granted, she wasn’t as gorgeous or glamorous as Ali, but she didn’t really worry about things like that. She was Pidge. She was herself. And that was all that mattered. 

Breakfast was what it normally was for her family. Too much. There was fresh fruit, eggs, juice, cereal, and toast. Why’d her mom always have to go all out? Pidge didn’t even eat breakfast. A simple glass of OJ was just fine for the girl. 

“Good morning honey!” Her mom, Taylor, said, chipper as always, as her dad read the paper and Matt enthusiastically at his eggs. “How did you sleep?”

“Like the dead,” grumbled the girl as she sat down unceremoniously on one of the wooden stools around the kitchen bar. She examined her green, battered nails. She had stopped biting them, now that she had a septum piercing she could agitate. Had to mess with something. 

“Oh my!” her dad, Patrick, suddenly exclaimed, startling Matt and almost causing Taylor to drop the pitcher of orange juice she was carrying to the table. “It seems as thought 17 year old Janette Hanway has officially been reported missing. Doesn’t she go to your school, kids?” 

“Yea she’s... president of the swim club if I’m not mistaken,” Matt said, his eyebrows pinching together in anxious confusion. 

“She’s also a big buyer in the weed department,” Pidge muttered into her glass of juice, causing her mother to half-heartedly smack her in the arm.

“Watch your tongue, Katie! The poor girl’s missing for god’s sake!” Pidge groaned at the mention of her birth name. She wanted to be called Pidge. Her brother got it. Her dad understood. Why couldn’t her mom? 

“Honey, you know she doesn’t appreciate being called that,” Patrick mumbled, pretending to be busy reading some more about the unfortunate disappearance of Janette. 

“Why wouldn’t she want to be called by the name her mother gave her?” Taylor asked, her nostrils flared. 

Matt, thank whatever god resided above, intervened then, “Let’s not start this now. Not when a girl who was in my German class, a girl I knew, granted not well, was just reported missing!”

Pidge’s mother looked as if she wanted to argue further, but sighed, accepting defeat, “Of course, honey. You’re right, as usual. This is something we really can’t ignore. Not with it being such a rare occurrence in Isicc. I haven't head of anything this horrific happening since Allen Altas died in that drunk driver accident. I still get emotional if I think about it too much. Poor Ali.” 

“Mom, that happened over ten years ago,” Pidge groaned, wishing that Shiro would hurry up and summon them outside. “I don’t think I could even talk then.” 

“Oh, you could talk, sweetie,” her dad mused, smiling as he brought the mug of coffee to his lips, “Did we ever tell you your first words?”

“Only every other day.”

“They were ‘Odious cat!’, while you pointed to the McClain’s old cat, Zazu,” Taylor remembered fondly, breaking off a piece of toast and feeding it to a patiently waiting Rover, the Holt’s Aussie. 

Pidge grinned despite herself. She wanted to hate how her family could find the joy in any typer of circumstance, she really did. But. She couldn’t. She could never hate anything about her family, even though her mom could be intolerant at times. And when her dad had terrible road rage. And when her brother would leave various, unwashed articles of clothing literally everywhere in the house. They were the sun in her life, she realized. And even though she knew she was going to leave this town far behind, Pidge kept the knowledge that she always had a comfort unlike anything else, in her family. 

Suddenly a car’s horn blared from outside, causing Rover to burst out in a chorus of ear-splitting barks. 

“Whelp, there’s our ride. C’mon Pidge!” Matt called, slinging his backpack over his shoulders. Pidge followed suit, adjusting her messenger bag across her chest as she followed her brother out, waving bye to her parents. 

Ali was already in the car with Shiro, taking her place in the passenger seat. Today she had her hair elegantly displayed in a crown braid, leaving several curled strands beside each ear. She had on a light lavender velvet choker, which contrasted beautifully with her skin (like her hair did). And a large, white, knit sweater that’s head hole was big enough to show off her collar bones. In place of actual pants, the girl just wore black leggings that were tucked into pastel purple nike high tops. With dangling pearl earrings, she looked like she was ready to steal hearts without batting an eye. Which she most certainly was. 

“Bonjour les amis,” Ali hummed, turning down the music flowing from Shiro’s speakers. “We’re right on schedule, and should be arriving at our dearest high school shortly.” Her voice was alight with sarcasm, though the tone was not blatantly displayed. 

“Your socks are a fashion disaster, Pidge,” the light-haired girl stated, turning back to the front as Shiro drove down the street. 

“Eat me, Princess,” Pidge snorted, earning chuckles from all over the car. Shiro held a coffee in one hand, the steering wheel in the other. Like every morning. 

The sound of raindrops gently hitting the car’s windows caused the foursome to lull into a subdued quiet, the gentle sound of Imogen Heap playing softly in the background. Until Shiro broke the spell.

“Did you guys know that Janette Hanway’s missing?” He asked to no one in particular, but all nodded in a grim fashion. “I tried to ask my dad about it, but he already left for work.” 

The four sat in silence, letting the reality of the girl’s disappearance wash over them. Pidge missed her parents’ light. 

 

▲  
Keith got to school early, riding with Reeba. Her biology classroom was almost as cluttered as her house; there were plants and fishtanks everywhere, and strange, educational posters littering the walls. One had a picture of broccoli and said “Broccoli is the powerhouse of the vegetable.” Keith thought that this matched the woman’s personality astoundingly well. 

He got his schedule shortly after arriving. AP physics first, pre-cal, AP 10th grade english, “A” wave lunch, music appreciation, AP European History, gym, and lastly, AP art. Through all of the many informational packets he had been handed by Ms. Eriichi, his counselor, Keith noticed one thing above all else. Isicc High had a baseball team, and tryouts were soon. Oh hell yea. 

As he made his was to the physics classroom, he thought of how much he had missed baseball. He hadn’t had an opportunity to play for several years, what with getting shuffled from one home to another. Now that he was adopted, he could finally be part of a team again. 

Standing right outside the classroom, were two familiar forms: a large, hulking boy, and a small, vicious girl. Hunk and Pidge. Keith mentally sighed with relief, grateful now that he had met his neighbors. 

Suddenly, it occurred to the boy that this was a very small town, and he would probably have his classes with at least one of his new neighbors. 

The duo were hunched over, whispering, and so engrossed in their quiet conversation that they didn’t even notice Keith approaching. Until he cleared his throat. Hunk whipped his head up worriedly, while Pidge glared, her expression immediately softening upon seeing that it was Keith who interrupted them. 

“Keith!” Hunk said warmly, enveloping the rigid boy in his large arms and squeezing tightly. Said boy felt as if he was suffocating. 

“Ok, ok, down boy, I think Keithy here is fixing to pass out,” Pidge mused, smirking. Hunk obeyed, releasing the dark haired boy who staggered back, nearly losing his balance. “You got your schedule?” the small girl asked, observing the papers Keith clutched in his hand as she folded her arms over her chest. 

“Uh, yea,” the boy said smartly, letting Pidge absorb its contents. 

“Huh,” she said, snatching it out of his hands, “You got AP physics with me an Hunk, pre-cal with Shiro and Ali, AP eng with Hunk, lunch with Shiro, Ali and me, music appreciation with no one, AP Euro with Lance, PE with Lance, and me, and art with Ali. All in all, a pretty solid schedule. A lot of AP goin on. You gonna join any clubs?” She asked as she handed his schedule back to him, readjusting her large, round glasses. 

Keith blew his bangs out of his face as he nodded, “I want to try out for the baseball team. Any other clubs you’d recommend?”

Pidge thought for a moment, but before she could open her mouth to say anything, Hunk beat her to it, “Ooh! Ooh! Come join robotics with me and Pidge!! We always need more members! Then of course there’s Art Club, Student Council, Astronomy Club, the Anime Club, Movie Club, Swim Club, Community-”

“Hunk!” Pidge interrupted loudly, causing the large boy to drift back from wherever it was that he went. 

He blushed, “Sorry. I tend to get carried away.” Keith insisted that it was fine as the trio stepped into the classroom. 

The class passed in a flash, Keith taking notes like a madman with the help of Hunk and Pidge to get him up to speed. In pre-cal, he learned that Shiro was the quarterback for the Isicc High Stags, and that Ali was an artist. He came to figure that out when she uncapped a purple pen and started drawing flowers and robots on his wrist. AP english with Hunk was fun, he shared his bag of spicy Doritos with Keith under the cover of the desks, praying that the teacher, Mr. Monroe, wouldn’t notice. 

Lunch was the most fun he’d had since he came to Isicc, however. Keith had packed a couple of left-over pizza slices from the first night he spent at Reeba’s, but he soon came to realize that that didn’t matter. Basically, Shiro, Ali and Pidge all shared everything they brought to lunch. 

He had just set his things down when green-nailed hands swiped a piece of his pizza. 

“Hey!” Keith raised his voice in alarm, fighting in vain to try and get his pizza back. Pidge, meanwhile, was making a show of seeing how much of the stuff she could fit in her mouth at once. 

“What the hell, Pidge?!” Keith bristled, his face flushing. Shiro and Ali just laughed. 

“Keith. At this lunch table, we share what we eat,” Ali grinned slyly, eyeing the darkly dressed boy with clear amusement. 

“Yea, I’m sure that’s a fantastic idea come flu season,” Keith muttered glumly as he plopped down hard on a stool. The conversation turned, at some point, towards the Illuminati, and Keith immediately jumped in, surprising everyone at the table. Especially Pidge, who was arguing fervently that Beyonce was a devout member. 

“Look, Shiro, there’s a substantial amount of proof! Go read ‘The Millionares’ Death Club’. It was written specifically to give clues as to the circumstances of the illuminati,” Keith responded passionately to Shiro’s comment about how there was little to no actual proof of the organization’s actual existence. 

“Not to mention the literal symbol of the illuminati is printed every single day on our CURRENCY,” Pidge hissed, leaning in as the conversation continued to overwhelm the muscled boy. Shiro, frankly, looked ready to cry. 

“Allura,” came an unfamiliar voice that sounded confident but wary. Keith looked up to see a girl with short and straight navy blue hair, with bangs straight across her forehead and large, clear rimmed glasses. She had large eyebrows, and pouty lips that made it look like her face was scowling. 

“I need to talk to you,” The girl said, clutching the book she was holding in her arms tightly. 

“Azalea. How many times have I told you not to call me by that name? You will call me Ali and nothing else,” Ali seethed, her eyes burning with hatred directed at this girl. 

The girl- Azalea- didn’t seem to be fazed by Ali’s heated glare, and continued, “It’s about Janette. Shiro, I want to talk to you about it as well.” At the mention of Janette’s name, everyone at the table stilled except for Keith. Janette? Who was she?

Ali sniffed angrily, gesturing at an empty stool for Azalea to sit down. Which she did. 

“Shiro, what has your dad said about all of this,” the pale girl asked, her eyes intensely staring at Shiro, who looked extremely uncomfortable. 

The boy shuffled in his seat, fiddling with his hands, “I haven’t had the chance to ask him anything. He was gone before I woke up.”

Azalea sneered, “Useless.” Ali and Pidge both might as well have shed their human skin suits and unveiled their demonic wings, their hatred and seething anger was pouring out so visibly. Keith decided he hated this Azalea chick as much as they did. 

“Listen here, crack-whore,” Pidge hissed, keeping her voice deathly low, “Don’t you think we’re all fucked up enough about this without you spewing your bullshit? Like, yea, we get it, your precious fuck buddy, Janette is gone. You know what probably happened? She probably got sick of your pathetic, bulimic, dope-smoking ass and bailed on this entire goddamn town. At least she doesn’t have to deal with you anymore, even if she’s dead in a ditch by now. You know what? I’m jealous of Janette. Whenever I talk to you, I’m reminded of why Hitler hated the gays. Fuck you, get lost.” 

Azalea stared coldly at Pidge, one of her eyes twitching. “Cunt,” she bit as she snatched her bag up and stormed out of the cafeteria. 

Keith was only able to stare, wide-eyed and disbelieving at the small, sailor-mouthed girl. Ali smirked and Shiro just looked pained. 

The wild-haired girl let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “No one talks to Shiro like that,” she mumbled, a scowl still present on her face. 

“Damn straight,” Ali smiled at Pidge, pulling her into a tight, playful hug and ruffling her hair as they laughed. Keith was only able to stare at Shiro, who shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. He looked worn, almost as if this happened more often than one would have thought. 

After the two girls calmed down, Keith found an opportunity to speak up, “Ok, so I’m majorly confused. First of all, what the fuck was wrong with that chick? It’s like she didn’t have human emotions. And second of all, what’s the story with this Janette girl?” 

The other three looked at him for several moments, unrecognizable emotions crossing their visages. It was Shiro who finally spoke up, 

“Janette was a girl who went to school here. She was captain of the swim team, president of Swim Club, and generally well known, although it wasn’t always for the best reasons. She was reported missing this morning. That girl whom Pidge just verbally abused-”

“Hey! I was defending your ass.”

“-was Janette’s ‘special friend’. They weren’t together officially, but it’s pretty common knowledge that they were having sex. The girl, Azalea, oversees the school newspaper, so she’s pretty practiced in the art of remaining stoic and poker-faced. Even if that makes her coldhearted and nosy as all hell. She’s probably seriously worried about Janette, though. Pidge. She most likely spoke without really thinking. How would you feel if someone close to you disappeared? It wasn’t nice to say the things you said to her. Not by any means. I think you need to apologize.” Shiro had switched from talking to Keith to reprimanding Pidge. Pidge, who sat, flabbergasted. 

“Excuse me?! Did you just tell me to apologize to that cunt?? Shiro, she called you USELESS!!!!” Pidge was practically shouting now, and had gained the attention of several of the surrounding tables. 

“Yes, and you called her several much, much worse things,” the older boy said, level-headed. Ali and Keith decided wisely to stay out of it, especially when Pidge angrily stomped away towards the direction of the bathrooms to cool down. 

Several moments of thick silence passed before Ali broke it, “You know she was only sticking up for you. You’re like another brother to her, Shiro. And this isn’t the first time Azalea’s spoken ill to/of you. You understand that, yes?” 

Shiro sighed, “I know, Ali. I just don’t want Pidge to start thinking that outbursts like that are ok. It’ll get her into serious trouble one day if she’s not careful.” 

Ali’s expression softened at his words, her hand finding his across the table. Suddenly, Keith felt as if he was intruding on something private. 

Moments later, Pidge returned with a small bag of Skittles that she stole from one of the school’s vending machines, handing them to Shiro as a peace offering. Along with the promises of apologizing to Azalea the next time she saw her and thinking before speaking next time. 

After lunch, Keith had music appreciation, which was as boring as it sounded. How the hell had he been put in this class? There were just a bunch of delinquents who were taking it because all the teacher did was read erotica novels and play the “Les Mis” movie on a wheeled in television. Absolute bullshit. 

Then came AP Euro. With Lance. He was in a bad mood the moment he stepped through the doorway and saw the mocha-skinned boy flirting with a bouncy, blonde haired, blushing girl. He chose a seat in the very back and prayed that it wasn’t already taken. 

Since the class was small, thankfully it wasn’t. As the teacher, Mrs. Larson, droned on about the Byzantine Empire, Keith found his eyes constantly stealing to the back of Lance’s head. Completely distracted, unlike how he normally acts in class. But, there was just something about Lance that Keith just didn’t understand. It was something that he couldn’t really describe, like the smell of clean air, or the feeling of a dream. And why was the lanky boy such an asshole? Keith had never met him before last night, when the guy made a total ass of himself. 

Meanwhile, the object of his distraction, sitting several rows in front of him, felt someone’s gaze burning holes in the back of his head. Lance turned to see fucking Keith staring at him, his eyebrows drawn in either concentration or frustration. The cuban boy glared back, trying to put as much bitterness in his gaze as possible. 

‘What?’ Lance mouthed angrily while Mrs. Larson’s back was turned. Keith just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the teacher. 

The tan boy scoffed indignantly, trying to get the new kid’s attention again. 

“Is there a problem, Mr. McClain?” Larson asked, a bite in her voice. Lance and his friends always suspected the older woman to be a bit of a racist, but then again, maybe it was just Lance she didn’t like. She reminded him of a Komodo dragon. Wrinkly and mean. 

“No ma’me,” Lance grumbled, sinking into his seat as some of the kids around him quietly giggled. 

“Good,” the old hag huffed, returning to her teaching. Lance stuck both middle fingers out at her turned back. The blonde girl that he’d been flirting with earlier giggled harder, playfully hitting his arm, and Keith mentally groaned. Never had he wanted to bang his head on the desk so badly. 

The rest of that class passed uneventfully, and soon the bell for sixth period rang. Gym, for Keith. And Lance. He didn’t have far to walk, and decided to just stealthily follow Lance, praying that the taller boy wouldn’t notice, which, of course, he did. 

“Ok, why are you following me? Couldn’t get enough of the back of my head from euro? That’s kind of gay, Keith,” Lance turned around to face the other boy and crossed his arms, jutting his chin out defiantly. 

“What? No, I have gym next, and I know you do too, thanks to Pidge, and so I was just walked behind you to our next class. What are you even talking about?” Keith snapped back at Lance, feeling his face slowly heat up. This. Fucking. Kid.

Lance, on the other hand, immediately felt foolish, but no way in hell would he admit it or apologize. Not to the emo kid with a mullet. 

“Whatever, mullet,” the darker boy grumbled, turning briskly and booking it the rest of the way to the gymnasium. Keith wanted to kick him. 

The gym was huge, and Keith honestly had no idea where he was supposed to go once he got in there. So, smartly, he just stood there, gawking at the enormity of the brightly lit room. 

“Hey,” came a soft, accented voice from behind him. He turned to see a girl wearing a teal hijab and a kind smile. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new?” She asked. Keith nodded, reminding himself fervently not to settle into a resting bitch face. “Cool. I’m Sidra,” the girl said, sticking out her hand for Keith to shake. 

“Keith,” the dark haired boy said, meeting her well-manicured hand. “Um, Sidra?” She looked at him expectantly. “What, er, where do I go now?”

She smiled kindly, stretching the freckles that dusted across her face, “You’re going to want to go straight ahead to the boys’ locker room. Get changed into your gym clothes, then come back out once you hear Coach Bellman blow the whistle. You brought a change of clothes, right?” Keith nodded, remembering Reeba’s pestering once she remembered he was taking gym. “Good. In that case, I’ll meet you back out here in about five minuets. Nice meeting you, Keith!” Sidra said as she waved off, walking quickly towards the girls’ locker room, which was to their left. 

Shaking off the daze he seemed to be in, Keith jogged to the side of the gym that the boys’ locker room was in. The smell hit him first. An overbearing mixture of feet, cigarette smoke, axe and B.O., hit him like a wave as he entered, along with the boisterous chatter of the many other boys already in there. Miraculously, he was able to find the familiar shape of Hunk amongst the clutter, and only upon reaching him did Keith realize Lance was right beside him as well. 

“Hey Keith!” Hunk beamed, putting his gym t-shirt on over his head, “How’s it hanging?” Lance looked cooly over at the emo kid, sniffing bitterly as he started to take his shirt off over his head. Keith felt his breath catch. Holy fuck. Not good. 

Lance didn’t have abs, exactly, but he was pretty damn close, with a well toned, tan stomach and chest. Keith felt heat flooding his face and blamed it on the stuffy nature of the locker room. 

Suddenly the boy remembered that Hunk had asked him a question, “It’s alright. Some asshole in euro tried to start something with me, but the teacher called him out so it was all good.” 

On the other side of Hunk, Lance glared at Keith with a fervent loathing that the boy was quickly becoming accustomed to. Keith just smirked. 

“Oh, man. I’m sorry about that, Keith,” Hunk responded, happily oblivious to the small feud that was happening on both sides of him, “There are a lot of douche-bags at this school. You learn to cope with ‘em.” Keith couldn’t help it. He laughed. 

When Keith calmed down and started to undress, Lance had to physically turn away from him and mess with his phone. No. No no no no no no no. Keith wasn’t as ripped as Shiro, but he was more in shape than Lance, himself was. And his skin was so pale, it practically glowed. Ok, so maybe that was his inner queen talking, but still. How could a guy as gorgeous as Keith be cursed with that bitter personality? But He’d be lying if he said that smirk wasn’t the goddamn cutest thing he’d seen in a long time. Even cuter than when Ali frowned in concentration, or when Shiro played with his cat, Shiki. Or when Pidge did literally anything. 

And he hated it.

Once everyone was dressed, the whistle signaled for the girls and boys alike to congregate together in the huge gymnasium. The three boys met up with Pidge, who was accompanied by a tall, muscular girl with cute, bobbed hair and a kind face. She introduced herself to Keith as Shay, and he was thoroughly convinced that this girl could bench-press him. 

It was evidently volleyball day. They had to split into teams of seven. Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, Shay, Sidra (she was in the robotics club along with his friends), and a curly haired boy named Nate, who was Sidra’s boyfriend. If there was one thing Keith learned that gym class, it was that you did not want to rival a team with Sidra, Nate and Shay on it. It was like those kids weren’t even human, more like volleyball programmed androids. Which was good, because that meant that the players who weren’t as good (Keith and Hunk) and the players who didn’t even fucking try (Lance and Pidge) didn’t bring their team down. 

Before Keith knew it, the Coach was blowing his whistle, telling them all to “get dressed and get lost”. As the boy walked to the art classroom, he was afraid he smelled like sweat, even though Hunk made Lance allow Keith to borrow his body spray. Now he smelled like sweat AND Lance. 

Art with Ali was actually very relaxing. All of the students were working on individual projects, so he was able to sketch on a blank piece of paper without breaking any sort of rule. The instructor, Mademoiselle Nicoline, was very air-headed, and many of the students liked to joke and say that she was constantly high on something. She was a sweet enough lady, albeit very dramatic, and borderline pathetic. She acted like a 10 year old. 

Ali was more like a teacher than Mademoiselle Nicoline, and many of the students came to her with questions rather than the teacher. It made sense, after all. Ali was the president of the Art Club, and was a genius when it came to the brush. 

Keith decided that he really liked Ali. She was regal and elegant and took no shit from anyone, but still managed to be nice. For the most part, at least. 

He thought about Ali as he lay awake that night, the small heat of Pippa next to his head. And he thought of Shiro, and Pidge, and Hunk. But mostly, he thought of Lance. He wanted desperately to know more about him. About the world that he lived in. He had never thought of anyone like this, not since he was very small. And, quite honestly, it terrified him.

 

▲  
Shiro waited up for his dad. Iris was in bed long ago, and Yuna had left for the high school about thirty minuets prior to Naoko walking tiredly through the front door. His son had a cup of warm camomile tea waiting for him in his favorite “Scooby Doo” mug. 

“Takashi,” Shiro’s father said, his voice soaked with exhaustion as he took a seat next to the boy and accepted the mug. “Something is seriously wrong.”

Shiro waited while his father took several long gulps of the tea. He knew something was wrong. Nothing like this ever happened in Isicc. It just didn’t. 

“I’m really not supposed to tell you this. I could get fired. But I want you and your friends to be safe. Extra safe. My boss was acting very strange today, like he was sleepwalking or something,” The older man put a gentle but firm hand on Shiro’s shoulder, squeezing gently, “Please, Takashi. Be safe.” Shiro could only nod to his father's words. 

“Don’t worry, dad. Noting bad is going to happen to us, here,” he gripped his father’s hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes, “Nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw my tumblr, if any of you want to know, is the-real-haggar


	4. Janette Hanway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reeba and Keith reminisce; Lance, Pidge and Hunk find out what's candy to the crows; a diner's open 24/7; Lloyd Khan is an utter ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aahh, so the story finally picks up, it does. Once again, did not edit this, so if it's utter garbage, thank you, I know.

It was raining again, several days later. It was Friday. Keith couldn’t remember the last time he had simply sat down by a window and stared out at the rain. He had just finished his homework, when Reeba barged into his room, proclaiming that it was time to “unwind and detox” by staring at the rain. 

“It’s kinda funny,” Reeba sighed, gently petting Blith, the ball python’s, head, “How it rains and rains and rains here in Isicc but it never seems to flood.” Keith looked at her with an odd expression his face, but she didn’t turn to meet his gaze. 

“I guess so,” Keith mumbled, “It sure is a change from the arid sands of Elko. It almost never rained there.” He didn’t normally think back to living in the retro town of Elko, Nevada. That was in the past, which was a place Keith desperately tried to avoid.

Reeba hummed, “That’s right. You were in Nevada before this. must be quite a change.” 

Keith could only nod, not trusting his thoughts as he swung his eyes back out at the rain. What was his adopted mother thinking right now? She had a nostalgic look in her eyes. The dark haired boy was content with the silence for now. If there was one thing he loved about Reeba, it was that she knew when to stay silent. She never pressed him about matters, like his past, that he didn’t want pressed. And she allowed him space. 

“You remind me so much of a friend I had in high school. His name was Keegan Thatcher. You look like him too. One time, he and I and a couple of other friends climbed the courthouse building and sat up there, drinking Bud Lite and smoking Camel cigarettes for hours. We thought we were clever, since we were quite literally at that moment above the law. Not that I’m condoning that kind of behavior! Ah, but then again we were young, and reckless. Then Judy moved off with her family, and Tristan left for some big university in New York. Soon it was just Keegan, Buddy and me. Now it’s just me.” Keith didn’t know when Reeba started looking like she was fixing to cry. Reluctant to push her, but because of his scratching curiosity, he pressed on, 

“What happened to Keegan and Buddy?” 

The older woman seemed to sober up at his question, looking quietly over to him with an inexplicable sadness in her eyes. “Buddy Averdale killed my best friend. And now he’s rotting in jail.” She sniffed angrily, lifting Blithe up over her shoulders. 

Keith didn’t say anything. How could he? Had that been the real reason Reeba had adopted him without a single hesitation? That he looked so much like her old high school friend? There was no doubt in the boy’s mind that it was. Now all there was to think about was why Buddy had murdered him. Weren’t they friends? Keith didn’t know what that had to have felt like. He’d never really had friends close enough to feel abashed if they betrayed him. 

“So,” Reeba started, abruptly changing topics after a brief, melancholy silence, “How have you enjoyed your first week of school at Isicc High so far? Any friends you deem worthy yet?” She smirked.

The darkly dressed boy rolled his eyes. “A couple. Shiro, Ali, Pidge and Hunk mainly. They’re pretty cool I guess.” 

The light-haired woman raised her eyebrows, “Oh? No Lance? That’s a shocker, I would have thought you and he would get along swimmingly.” She had a sly smile on her face that Keith couldn’t quite decipher. 

“Lance? What about him? He’s an asshole, that’s what. He’s always picking fights with me, and I don’t even know what I did wrong! What’s his damage, anyway?” The boy grumbled, fiddling with the ends of his gloves as Pippa scrambled up the window sill, licking her own eye once she reached the top. 

Reeba laughed lightly, calmly, as she ran a worn hand through her frazzled hair. “Thank you, Keith. For reminding me why I don’t miss being a teenager, after all.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. All I’m going to say is that you need to talk things out with Lance. That boy can be as fickle as a horned toad sometimes.” Keith shuddered at the mention of those awful creatures. 

“Maybe he’s not that bad,” the boy mumbled, his mind traveling to the way Lance’s shape formed a nearly perfect “V”. At that, Reeba tilted her head back and cackled with laughter, causing Blithe to hiss ruefully at the disturbance of the peace. 

“No, I suppose he’s not,” the woman sighed after a while, gazing contently out at the rain. “I wonder what those kids are up to right now?”

Keith shrugged, refusing to admit that if they were up to something, he felt a little hurt at not being included. “Dunno. Probably something that’ll get them soaked though.”

“Yeah,” Reeba said, her voice starting to slip with drowsiness.

“Yeah,” the dark-haired boy echoed, letting his eyes glaze over as thoughts and memories took shape in his mind’s eye. For some reason, he remembered the fourth of July, two years prior. When he was about 13, give or take. 

The sun was gone, and the moon shone brightly over the town of Elko. Keith would have shivered if the sand under his bare feet hadn’t been so hot with the leftover heat of the sun’s rays from earlier that day. His black jeans were rolled up around his mid-calf, and his thin cotton pullover was pulled tightly around him as he fought a chilly breeze. 

A group of boys ran past him, one knocking him roughly in the shoulder. He grunted, stumbling forward as the boys laughed mockingly, waving sparklers dangerously close to one another. It took all the self control in him not to run after them and press those sparklers against their skin. Calm down, Keith. Count to ten. Count to twenty. You’re fine. 

There had been one boy in particular that night. Eric Kinlan, who had dirty blond hair and braces that didn’t detract from how attractive he was. But above all, he was nice to Keith, even though he was several years older. Nicer than any of the other kids. And goddamn could that boy ride a horse. The memory of Eric riding a paint mare across a sprawling stretch of desert one day sent a melancholy smile spreading across Keith’s lips. 

That fourth of July was the first time Keith did anything “adult.”

A bad thing about Eric: he was scared. Terrified. Of what people would say or do if they found out he was gay. So that night, on the fourth of July, he led Keith into the stall of old, abandoned gas station, where delinquents went to shoot up and fight. He kissed Keith there, and they kept kissing. 

Keith ended up giving the older boy head that night, in the filthy bathroom of a disgusting, run-down gas station. He missed the fireworks, but didn’t regret it. 

He shook himself out of the memory with a realization: 

Lance McClain was much more beautiful than Eric Kinlan. 

 

▲  
It was cold that Friday, and Pidge walked while hunched over, leaning as close to Hunk as she could without actually touching him. That boy seemed to radiate heat. Lance, on the other hand, was thin and lanky and hardly held heat. She oh-so affectionately referred to his body-type as “corpse”. 

They were all walking in a comfortable silence to their treehouse to do god knows what. Pidge grumbled to herself as she tightened the jacket around her, bitter that Lance had refused their invite into the workshop. 

“Doesn’t it bother you two how much that place reeks?” Lance had asked earlier that day when Hunk and Pidge had invited him. 

“You get used to it,” Hunk said, patting his friend on the shoulder, “I actually kind of like the smell of the smoke. Like how Shiro likes the smell of gasoline and Ali likes paint thinner.” 

Lance only shook his head and muttered, “You people....” And when they had   
suggested inviting Keith, Lance had vehemently refused, claiming that if they did, he’d hole himself up in his room and never come out. 

So, by law of Lance, the trio had decided upon hanging out at the treehouse instead. Which is where they were headed now. 

The forest floor was thick with rainwater, and so soaked that it hardly made a sound as they continued in silence. Something about the air of the forest then felt eerie, as if they were trespassing on private property, but none of them had the courage to stop and say that they should turn around. The treehouse loomed before them, the top part shrouded in a fog that was rapidly descending across the forest. 

Fog was not an uncommon thing in Isicc. It happened more than sunshine, in fact. Shiro and Lance liked to joke that Pyramid Head would materialize out of the fog at any given moment, which would always cause Hunk to emit a high-pitched, unpleasant sound. 

No one made any Silent Hill jokes now, however, as the trio looked up at the treehouse. 

“Does anyone else feel... weird? Or is it just me?” Hunk asked, trying to rub the goosebumps off of his arms. Pidge didn’t say anything, but walked up to the old tree in which their clubhouse rested. 

“It’s not just you, buddy,” Lance said, warily trudging past his small friend, and scoping out the surrounding area. “Something definitely feels off right now.” 

Crows screamed from a nearby tree, causing all three kids to jump in alarm. Hunk whimpered. Two of the onyx colored birds glided down into a shallow, natural ditch that almost always had muddy water in it, nearby. 

Lance started walking towards the ditch, stopping soon after and turning to look at his friends. “Crows pray on dead things,” he stated grimly. As the words left his lips, the atmosphere seemed to drop to even lower depths. He turned around and continued to walk towards the ditch, his friends following silently. The birds left upon his approach, cawing ruefully at the disturbance of their feast. And there she was. 

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Like he had just been punched in the gut. He wasn’t fast enough to stop Hunk and Pidge from gazing at the pale, naked and horribly beaten body of Janette Hanway. Lance’s small friend took in a sharp intake of breath, her eyes widening in horror as Hunk emptied his lunch beside them, retching. 

“She’s dead,” Lance croaked, starting to tremble. He had only known her from the swim club, and even then, he’d never really talked to the girl much. When they first met he had flirted with her, but then again, he’d done that with nearly everyone upon introductions. He knew she didn’t deserve this, though. No one deserved to die like this. The thought brought tears to his eyes. Tears that refused to spill. 

The trio sprinted to Shiro’s house, their sneakers pounding painfully on the wet pavement. Pidge nearly broke the door down with her urgent knocking. 

“Shiro!” she called, tears starting to well up behind her gargantuan glasses, “Shiro come out, please!!!” But when the door opened, it wasn’t Shiro who answered. 

“Iris,” Pidge was shaking now, “Iris please get Shiro, this is urgent! Actually, is Naoko home?!”

The other girl tsked, leaning casually against the doorframe and gazing at them with hooded eyes, “Uncle’s at work. Shiro’s probably at Ali’s house.” Before Shiro’s cousin could say another word, Pidge had slammed the door in her face and grabbed her friends, flying off towards Ali’s ginormous house at the end of Shaebur St.

The thin boy’s lungs started to feel as if they would burst, along with his heart. Had they really just discovered the body of their classmate who had gone missing only days prior? It didn’t feel real. This time, Pidge didn’t even bother knocking when she entered the house, calling out Shiro and Ali’s names. 

Ali’s uncle, Corey, ran into the foyer, looking worried, “What’s going on?! Pidge dear girl, what on earth has happened??” He spoke with a thick australian accent that years of living in the states couldn’t dampen. 

Pidge only shook her head, trying desperately to regain her breath as she rested on her hands and knees. Shiro and Ali soon after were running frantically down the stairs, looking sick with worry. 

“What’s going on?!” Ali demanded upon looking at the state of the three friends. They all looked blankly at each other, Corey, Shiro and Ali’s gazes worried and urging. 

Lance gulped, and spoke before he could back himself out of it, “We found her.” Everyone’s eyes were on him now. “We found Janette’s body.” 

 

▲  
Keith woke up to the sound of police sirens, only to discover that he had fallen asleep in a chair while he and Reeba had been watching the rain. Instantly his mind twisted with worry. Where was Reeba? He called out to her, ignoring the python in the otherwise empty seat next to him. 

The older woman walked into the small room, holding several steaming mugs with a concerned look on her face. “What is it Keith?”

Visibly relaxing, Keith took the mug she offered him and sunk back into his seat. “I heard the sirens, thought the worst,” he muttered after he took a long gulp of jasmine tea. 

“Oh! The sirens? Oh, that’s right! They sound really close, don’t they? I wonder where they’re headed off to. Probably Old Regina's again. That woman has fallen and busted a hip more times than I can bother to remember. You know what I think? I think she’s doing it on purpose, now. For attention.” As Reeba started to drone on about Old Regina, Keith felt his mind start to wonder, once again, the sounds of the sirens growing louder by the second. He kind of enjoyed the sound of sirens. It reminded him of a thrill that he felt like he needed. The sound made him think that something exciting, note-worthy was happening. Like a rebellion. A rebellion of what? He never really cared. 

When the sirens turned onto Shaebur St, the red and blue blinking lights visible even from one of the back rooms of Reeba’s home, the woman stilled. Her rambling cut off instantly. She shot out of the chair and hurried out of the room. Keith wasn’t sure what the hell was happening, so he followed his adopted mom as she flung open the front door. 

There were several police cars and an ambulance between the McClain’s and the Altas’ houses, officers hurrying behind one another into the woods. He saw Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Shiro and Ali all huddled together, staring intently at the police men. Their guardians standing not too far away. 

Before he knew what was happening, Reeba was jogging quickly down the small, wooded hill her house sat on, and across the street to the kids and their parents. After closing the door, Keith followed her, grateful for his black MCR sweatshirt when the chilly air fought against him. 

“What happened?” he asked, his breath stuttering with the cold as he reached the group of friends. 

They all looked somberly at him, Hunk’s eyes bloodshot from crying. Keith looked back at them expectantly. 

It was finally Shiro who spoke up, “Lance, Pidge and Hunk found the missing girl, Janette Hanway’s body in the woods behind their treehouse.” As the words left his mouth, the paramedics broke through the brush, carrying her body under a sheet, into the back of the ambulance. It drove away without a siren. 

After the parents had calmed down, and the sun had gone down, the six kids piled into Shiro’s old but spacious car and sped to the nearest all night diner. The sign glowed with a pink and blue neon light, illuminating the name “Hazel’s: Open 24/7.” Not many other cars in the parking lot, and only one other customer keeping the quiet eatery company. The gentle song “Where in the World” by Midge Williams played softly over the diner’s speaker. 

“Where’s Matt?” Hunk asked gently, feeling comfortable with the voice of a familiar artist to him singing to them. 

Pidge sighed as she sunk further into the circular booth, messing tirelessly with a Sweet-N-Low packet. “He was going to some kind of convention with his astro-physics professor. Apparently he got the highest grade of the most recent test, and thus got invited to accompany the prof to Astro-Con or whatever the fuck it’s called.” She was starting to feel the exhaustion the day had caused, and wasn’t sure she’d make it all the way through a dinner of waffles with her friends. 

“What, I’m confused,” Keith said, staring at the table with furrowed eyebrows, “If your brother is still in high school, how can he be taking college classes...?” 

Lance started to snort, but Hunk kicked his shin, causing him to exclaim, “OW!” instead, while Pidge and Ali chuckled. Shiro just rolled his eyes and turned to the newest member of their group. “Matt’s an extremely smart kid. As he’s finishing high school, he’s also taking several very rigorous college courses online. One of them, evidently, is astro-physics. Hell, Matt’s whole family is filled with geniuses. Pidge even skipped a couple of grades. You gonna take college classes too, Pidge?”

“Huh?” The girl said, snapping her attention up from the paper star she was trying to fold out of the straw wrapper. Realization caught in her eyes as she processed what Shiro just asked her, “Oh! No, no, probably not. It looks hella stressful.” “Where in the World” was swiftly replaced by “What a Wonderful World.”

“Ironic,” Lance sniffed when Louis Armstrong’s rough voice started to sing. The group voiced their muffled agreements as the waiter, Conner, came to take their order. 

“What’ll it be tonight, guys?” He asked, trying not to sound too tired. But the bags under his eyes were proof enough that the boor guy wasn’t getting enough rest. He didn’t look to be that much older than the kids, maybe just by a couple of years. He had bleached blond hair, with dark roots showing, and a face that was peppered with acne scars. The guy had nice cheekbones, that were highlighted by the slicked back hairstyle that had been wearing loose as the day dragged on. The bright pink of the waiter shirt washed out his completion though, making him look almost like a ghoul from another plane of existence. Hazel’s itself, kind of had that feeling. Especially from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM. 

They each gave their orders, Keith’s being the exact same as Shiro’s: black coffee with eggs over easy, hash browns, and bacon. Lance and Pidge got waffles (Pidge’s was chocolate chip, whilst Lance just took his plain), while Ali ordered chicken soup with rice and Hunk decided on an “Everything Omelet”. 

It was just as the group started to settle into comfortable conversation about what animal you would be if you could be any animal, when the bell chimed annoyingly, signaling the arrival of a lean, brattish looking guy and several of his friends. Keith didn’t know him, but judging by his new friends’ reactions, he was not a nice person. 

“Ah! Ali! Fancy seeing you in a dump like this! I woulda thought it was too low for your standards,” the lead boy said, strutting over to the group’s table. He had an angular face that was attractive, and he acted like he knew it. But his skin was so pale that it held an almost purplish tint, especially around the joints of his fingers. His hair was a pale yellow, and was pulled back in a tight pony-tail. Ali glared at him. 

“Lloyd,” she said coolly, as if she was speaking precisely and deliberately, “It’s been a while. You got suspended, didn’t you?”

The newcomer pulled a chair up to the end of the table, making sure it made the most cringe-worthy noise it could. “What of it, Princess? Aw did you miss me?” Keith already hated this punk. 

“As if she would even think of you,” Lance growled, his knuckles paling as he clenched them on the table. 

With a look of mock surprise and offense, Lloyd faced the tan skinned boy. “Oh? I don’t think we’ve officially met, but no doubt you’ve heard of me.” 

Lance sneered, “Oh, I’ve heard of you alright. You’re the pisslord that terrorized Chris Jones until he and his family moved. The guy who set off fireworks in the boys’ locker room. The one whose responsible for leaking that one girls nudes and getting her arrested. You’re a pig who doesn’t have a right to talk to Ali like that.” 

Lloyd looked at him with a bored expression on his face, “Goddamn, for someone with such a pretty face, you sure do know how to spout bullshit. So what if I did all that shit? What’re you gonna do if I talk to Ali, taco boy?” 

The darker boy was seething with rage, and the whole table could tell he was fixing to snap. Keith burned on the inside. Who the hell did this guy think he was?! he wanted to punch the bored look off his face purely for the reaction it would earn. It had nothing to do with the fact that he insulted Lance or called him pretty. Nope. Nothing. 

Thankfully, Ali stepped in, gently laying a well-manicured hand on Lance’s shoulder, “Lloyd, don’t start anything. Not tonight. We’ve all had a difficult day.”

Lloyd raised an eyebrow, “Oh? How so?”

“Like it’s any of your business,” grumbled Pidge, “But since it’s gonna be in the news anyway: We found Janette Hanway’s body. I’ll spare you the gory details, because I’m sure you’d get hard over it, but just know that it was gross.”

The other boy had gone quite still while listening to Pidge. Then he sneered, “Whatever. That bitch probably had it coming to her.” 

Surprisingly, Hunk was the one to react first to this, “What the fuck, man?! What is your deal?? No one deserves what happened to Janette, no one! You can’t just go around saying stuff like that, it’s revolting.” 

“I don’t need you to tell me about revolting, fatty,” Lloyd hissed, standing up abruptly. “We’re leaving. But this isn’t over, I hope you all know. I’ll be back at school by Monday.” And as soon as he and his gang came, they were gone. Keith found that he was trembling with anger. Yea, he definitely got some serious bad vibes from that guy. 

Shiro put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with concern. “Hey,” he said gently, “You alright, Keith?” But the other boy could only nod, not trusting his words to not shake with hatred. 

Keith looked up to make sure Hunk was alright. He didn’t look at all upset about what Lloyd had said, which made the dark-haired boy sigh quietly in relief. Even if he hadn’t known Hunk for very long, he did know that he deserved the best in the world, and was far too kind to have to deal with bullshit like what was just handed to him. 

As the meal came to a close and they each payed for their respective meals, Keith hung behind to try to get a word in with the larger boy. 

“Hey,” he said, helping as the other boy started to stack dirty dishes onto one another. Hunk looked up at him with a kind, tired smile upon his face. 

“Hi Keith.” Oh boy. Now what? Keith had never been particularly good at this kind of thing. 

After several second of silence that seemed to stretch for hours, Keith spoke again, “You’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. And, you make me feel more... at ease. If you ever need someone to lend you an ear, I’m always open.”

Hunk’s smile could’ve melted the arctic. “Of course. Thank you, Keith.” The drive home was much happier than the drive to Hazel’s had been. And as Keith stared out the window of the car, the only thing he wished for was the clouds to let up, so that he and his new friends could see the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's funny, because my stepdad literally just gave me a speech about how my addiction with reading/writing fan fiction is going to ruin my life. Well. Let the ruining commence. 
> 
> Thanks to all of you guys leaving comments and kudos!! I really, really, really appreciate it.

**Author's Note:**

> I think that the vibe of this fic is a mix of the tv show "Eyewitness" and the video game "Life is Strange", so if you got vibes like either of those texts, then good! That's what I tried to create. 
> 
> I promise it'll pick up soon, I just need to set up the story for you guys. Thanks.


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